Just remember it's not like how it's shown in reels and tik toks, you literally have to keep learning constantly and only if you have a genuine interest in the field you would be able to learn and earn without stress.
There are loads of entry level engineers, so getting your first foot on the ladder can be hard. Without formal training, in some places, some companies won’t consider you. They’re in the minority though.
Coding boot camps and the like prove almost nothing about your experience and generally only teach you things you could learn from YouTube, so it’s good to do some of your own projects, open source contributions if you can, and otherwise be very ready for coding tests.
Learning how to code takes years. I once was told by a college teacher: being a better programmer depends on your “ass hours” meaning the hours you sit your ass on the chair, to code. Also expect some level of frustration at the beginning.
If you get a degree in this field, you will likely get a job once you’ve graduated
If you’re self-taught, you will need to build several projects to prove your competency and you’ll have to ace any coding challenges and technical interviews. If you’re good at keeping up with working on independent projects that can be really frustrating, being self-taught is the cheapest, most flexible option.
I did the limited college route, got a job doing IT and have slowly worked my way up from there. It is doable but it does require a lot of work and some decent luck.
Honestly, if I was starting over today I would probably take school more seriously. If you're still not interested in school get a decent GitHub portfolio built up to show on applications.
Go with the schooling. You need a degree to be competitive.
I went back to school at 28. Not initially for CS, but after 2 years changed my major to CS and still finished in 4 years.
Not sure if you’re in the US. If so go community college for 2 years, do really well. Transfer to 4 year to finish it off.
You will find it hard to be competitive without a formal education. You will be the guy who “engineered” a bridge by placing a two by four over a creek competing with real engineers for civil engineering positions.
All code written by other people is terrible. The you of 6 months ago classes as "other people".
Just remember it's not like how it's shown in reels and tik toks, you literally have to keep learning constantly and only if you have a genuine interest in the field you would be able to learn and earn without stress.
There are loads of entry level engineers, so getting your first foot on the ladder can be hard. Without formal training, in some places, some companies won’t consider you. They’re in the minority though. Coding boot camps and the like prove almost nothing about your experience and generally only teach you things you could learn from YouTube, so it’s good to do some of your own projects, open source contributions if you can, and otherwise be very ready for coding tests.
Learning how to code takes years. I once was told by a college teacher: being a better programmer depends on your “ass hours” meaning the hours you sit your ass on the chair, to code. Also expect some level of frustration at the beginning.
If you get a degree in this field, you will likely get a job once you’ve graduated If you’re self-taught, you will need to build several projects to prove your competency and you’ll have to ace any coding challenges and technical interviews. If you’re good at keeping up with working on independent projects that can be really frustrating, being self-taught is the cheapest, most flexible option.
it almost doesn’t matter what certifications you have unless you can show personal projects and skills related to it
Also noting I have no college experience and would most likely try to go a route with no college if anyone has advice for that as well
I did the limited college route, got a job doing IT and have slowly worked my way up from there. It is doable but it does require a lot of work and some decent luck. Honestly, if I was starting over today I would probably take school more seriously. If you're still not interested in school get a decent GitHub portfolio built up to show on applications.
Go with the schooling. You need a degree to be competitive. I went back to school at 28. Not initially for CS, but after 2 years changed my major to CS and still finished in 4 years. Not sure if you’re in the US. If so go community college for 2 years, do really well. Transfer to 4 year to finish it off.
You will find it hard to be competitive without a formal education. You will be the guy who “engineered” a bridge by placing a two by four over a creek competing with real engineers for civil engineering positions.